In 2014, Rovio's revenue dropped 9%, and its operating profit
fell a catastrophic 74% as a result of declining
interest in its products. The company is yet to release its
financial results for 2015.

Headquartered in Espoo, Finland, Rovio has recently appointed a
new man to the helm of its games division in a bid to inject to
energy into the company.

Wilhelm Taht, formerly Rovio's head of external products — which
encompasses the likes of "Angry Birds Transformers" and "Angry
Birds Go!" — was appointed executive vice president of Rovio
Games at the start of the year.

He sat down with Business Insider during his visit to the Mobile
Games Forum (MGF) in London — where the company has a handful of
its 470 employees.

New IP and older users

Early on in the interview, Taht reels off a few of his tactics
that he believes will help Rovio get to a better position.

"We’re doubling down on existing performers. We’re trying to
age up the audience across our games portfolio quite
significantly. We’re trying to innovate and we're trying to
develop new IP."

In order to attract an older audience, Taht said Rovio will focus
on new genres and creating new products. He added that the
company could take a slightly more "edgy" approach to its
existing products in order to pull in older users.

Founded in 2003, Rovio has struggled to capitalise on the success
of "Angry Birds" since it launched in 2009. None of the other
games in its portfolio have come close to the "Angry Birds"
franchise in terms of download numbers or revenue, leading
critics to believe the company may be little
more than a one-hit-wonder.

"Brands ebb and flow over time and our goal is to have other IPs
as well," said Taht. "But our goal is also for 'Angry Birds' to
stay alive for a very long period of time. I think it has some
unique traits."

Taht realises that "Angry Birds" has lost some of the traction it
had two or three years ago but he's optimistic that the new $80
million (£56 million) "Angry Birds Movie" will help build brand
awareness when it's released in May, adding that he's seen it
multiple times and that it's good comedy for all.

In the new game, a gang of fish climb out of the sea to explore
the islands around their watery home, searching for fruit and
dodging lizards to advance through 200 levels.

Rovio's new Nibblers
game.Rovio

"It [Nibblers] was a quiet, soft release," said Taht. "It's
started to scale up and we’ve significantly increased user
acquisition over Q1. Does it have the traits and all the
components that can create IP on the level of Angry Birds? I
don’t know. I think it can grow fairly big with time and effort."

He added: "Very few brands grow to the level of Angry Birds."

IPO or acquisition

In terms of funding, acquisitions, or an IPO, Taht said: "We’re
not in selling mode. We have no need to raise any funding at this
time."

Instead, it looks as though the company wants to rely on the
money people pledge through in-app purchases. Nearly all of
Rovio's games are currently free to download with the option to
make in-app purchases.